﻿﻿﻿The War On Aging﻿﻿﻿

Start by reading a book called Ending Aging by Dr. Aubrey de Grey on what we know about aging, how we can stop and reverse it and how far along the research for doing so is today. Alternatively there is this shorterTED talk.

What Is Aging?

First and foremost it is important to understand that aging is not something mystical or incomprehensible. Aging with all it's symptoms and all its associated diseases is caused by the accumulation of damage in our bodies over time coupled with a lack of repair thereof.

These 7 damage types are at the root of ALL degenerative processes that happen to the human body as we get older as well as ALL the diseases of old age (Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, Alzheimer's, etc...). You can read up about it in detail on the SENS Research Foundation website.

What Can We Actually Do About This Aging Damage?

It turns out there are comprehensive answers on how to effectively combat and reverse each of these 7 damage types already as outlined here.

Research with the focus on ending aging is happening in independent laboratories around the world, mostly funded and coordinated by the SENS Research Foundation.

In short: By repairing the body using treatments that we are capable of developing using today's technology we can effectively treat and reverse aging. This is extremely good news!

Why Have We Not Done Anything About This Before?

This is a new approach to tackling aging. It is called the "Engineering/Maintenance Approach" and was conceptualized by Dr. Aubrey De Grey only recently in early 2000. It has since undergone widespread recognition in the scientific community. Before that there have been 2 fields in medicine/science that deal with aging: Gerontology and Geriatrics.

Gerontologyhas thus far been unsuccessful because it tries to avoid the damage of aging from occurring by understanding and tweaking metabolism which is extremely complex and beyond our understanding at this point. Besides it does not help people who are already alive.

Geriatrics on the other hand tries to deal with the effects of aging damage. Largely unsuccessfully of course because the underlying damage is not removed and keeps causing harm. So it's really glaringly obvious why there has not been much progress in treating the diseases, disabilities and degenerative conditions of old age up until now.

That is where the engineering/maintenance approach comes in. It attacks the damage which is comparatively easy to understand and repair directly.

Why Have I Not Heard About This In The News?

It's really quite frustrating. New concepts, rejuvenation research in particular (just try talking to anyone about it), tend to take a while to catch on and in this case time will mean the difference between life and death, health and suffering for millions.

There is this notion that living longer translates to a prolonged period of frailty and suffering when this research is about the exact opposite: restoring youthful vigor.

To most people rejuvenation remains an impossible pipe dream because they don't pay attention or take the time to inform themselves about medical advances or progress in research. They have their viewpoint defined by pro aging movies and other popular media.

As long as the general population does not change their mind about how they feel about rejuvenation research, governments and the mainstream media won't take it up as a serious field of research.

History has shown how much resistance there is towards new ways of thinking and how irrational that resistance seems when looking back. (Yes powered flight is possible and no, the earth is not flat)

The more radical the idea, the bigger the resistance. To believe that aging is avoidable or indeed reversible may be the most fundamental paradigm shift that humanity has ever had to go through and as ridiculous as this may sound to future generations, we currently live in a world where most people frown upon the idea of being young and healthy for as long as they desire.

What Can I Do To Support Rejuvenation Research?

Put simply: New medical technologies don't fund themselves. The future we get is the future we choose to invest in. The war on aging has already begun. It is happening now and it can be won within our lifetime if we push to reach human longevity escape velocity.

There are currently a few companies such as Calico (Google), Human Longevity Inc(to name the bigger ones) working towards curing aging and many initiatives such asFight Aging, the International Longevity Alliance and many more who work towards raising public awareness and bringing this struggle of humanity out of the shadows and into the spotlight of the media.

The SENS Research Foundation is spearheading the movement and has the most feasible and comprehensive approach to curing aging. They are a non profit organization, their research is thorough, well documented and transparent so it is easy to follow along with their progress, plans and goals. That is why our vote goes to them for support.,

We live in an exciting time where we have the chance to see a world free of involuntary suffering, frailty and death from aging and age related diseases, but if we want to be around to see this world become a reality we need to do our part in supporting the research.

The most important part is continuous funding and advocacy. Talk about this subject matter with other people, spread awareness and excitement and sign up for a donation subscription (small monthly donation) on the SENS Research Foundation website today for a future unbounded by an inevitable age-related demise.